Recharging device for magnetos



c. A. LEE

Filed Sept. 9" 1920 Patented Nov. 11, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES A. LEE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY G. DAVIS, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

RECI-IARGING DEVICE FOR MAGNETOS.

Application filed September 9, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Recharging Devices for Magnetos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an appliance designed more particularly for re-charglng the permanent magnets of automobile magnetos, such as the fly-wheel magnetos of Ford cars.

The principal object of the invention 1s the provision of a simple, light and inexpensive device by which such a magneto can be conveniently recharged in a comparatively short time without removing it from the car or otherwise disturbing it or any of its parts, thus effecting an important saving in time and labor.

A further object is to so construct the appliance as effectually to guard against burn ing out of the magnet 0011s and other parts of the magneto.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a standard Ford fly-wheel magneto, showing the appliance connected theretofor recharging the permanent magnets. Flgure 2 IS an enlarged longitudinal sectlon of the handle carrying the make-and-break contact.

Similar characters of reference indlcate corresponding parts in both views. I

10 indicates the usual transmlsslon casing of the automobile containing the fly wheel 11 keyed to the crank shaft 12. Carr1ed by the fly wheel to rotate therewith are the customary permanent magnets 13 opposite which are located the fixed electromagnets 14 mounted on the transmission casing. The coils of these electromagnets are connected in series in the usual manner, and one end of the series is grounded, as shown at 16, while its other end is connected to the customary magneto contact or binding post 17. These several parts are common and well known and therefore require no more detailed illustration or description.

The improved magneto recharging apparatus comprises an electric conductor 18 adapted to be connected at one end to one side of the supply line and at its other end to the binding post 17, as shown 1n Fig. 1, and a second conductor 19 adapted to be Serial No. 408,243.

connected at one end to the other side of the supply line and provided at its opposite end with a metallic tip or contact 20 adapted to be tapped against the casing 10 or other part by which the coil-circuit is grounded, so as to alternately make and break the circuit for recharging the permanent magnets 13. For this purpose said make-and-break contact 20 is mounted on a convenient handle 21 of wood or other insulating material which surrounds the conductor 19. In the preferred form shown in the drawings, this handle contains a metallic tube 22 closed at its front end by a head 23 having a threaded central opening which receives a screw stem 24 of the contact-head 20.

In practice, those ends of the conductors 18, 19 which are connected to the supply line are attached to a terminal plug 25 adapted to be inserted in a bulb-socket of ordinary construction, as shown.

To cut down excessive voltage of the supply line and prevent burning out of the magnet coils or other parts of the magneto, a resistance coil 26 is interposed in the conductor 19, this coil being preferably housed in the hollow handle 21, as shown in Fig. 2.

In recharging the weakened magnets of a magneto with this improved appliance, the wire normally leading from the binding post 17 to the customary induction coil on the automobile dash, is disconnected, and the terminal plug 25 of the conductors 18, 19 is connected to the supply line and the conductor 18 is connected to said binding post, as shown in the drawings. 'The flywheel 11 is turned to bring the N-pole of the permanent magnets opposite the S-pole of the magnet-coils, and the user then grasps the handle 21 and taps the contact 20 against the casing 16 or equivalent part of the mo tor a suitable number of times, about ten taps being usually sufficient to fully recharge the permanent. magnets. By thus making and breaking the coil-circuit, a mag netic flux is produced which passes through the permanentmagnets, recharging or remagnetizing them in a well known manner. All of the magnets can thus be simultaneously charged in about five minutes without the necessity of removing or disturbing them or any other parts of the magneto, rendering this operation easy and convenient and saving considerable time and labor.

Before inserting the plug 25 in the companion socket, it is necessary to place the fly wheel 11 and the permanent magnets 12-5 attached thereto in proper position to receive the current. This is done by holding a compass over the transmission cover 10 just below the insulated binding post 17, and turning the n'iotor slowly over until that end of the compass which normally points south, will point directly toward the transmission cover, with the compass needle standing in a vertical plane which passes through the axis of that binding post. The permanent magnets will then be in the position shown in Fig. 1, the adjoining legs of the two topmost magnets being then north poles. It follows that the end of the uppermost magnet coil which is closest to the companion central legs of the uppermost magnets, must be a south pole. This particular pole will be a south pole when the lead wire 18 is positive, this being so because of the particular way in which the coils 14 are commercially wound. In regular garage work, the lead wires 18 and 19 are permanently attached to the plug so that the mere insertion of the plug automati- (ally causes the lead wire 18 to become posit-ive.

However, where the device is being set up for the first time it is necessary to find out whether or not this lead wire 18 is positive. In that case, the next operation is to insert the plug 25 and close the D. (l. elec- 'tric circuit between the wire 18 and the make and break contact head 20, for instance, by wiring the device in the manner shown in Fig. 1. The compass is then placed in the vicinity of wire 18 while the current is flowing through it. It the north end of the needle turns in a clockwise direction relatively to the wire 18, looking away from the plug 25, then that wire is positive. If not, the lead wires 18 and 19 are reversed with respect to the screw terminals of said plug which operation will reverse the current through the lead wires, thereby making the wire 18 positive. The metal head 20 is tinally tapped on the casing 10 or any other grounded point, as hereinbefore described.

The appliance can be readily used in a garage or other place supplied with direct current of the usual voltage and requires no expensive or heavy or cumbersome equipment of any kind. It is, moreover, light, practically self-contained and not liable to get out of order, and at the same time safeguards the magneto against burning out of any O'l its parts.

I claim as my invention:

1. A contact-device for a magneto recharging appliance, comprising a hollow handle of insulating material, a resistance coil in the handle, and a metallic contactti attached to the handle and permanently connected to one end of said coil, the other end of the coil being adapted to be connected to a source of direct current.

2. A contact-device for a magneto recharging appliance, comprising a hollow handle of insulating material, a tube arranged therein and having a head containing a screw threaded opening, a. metallic contact tip having a screw-stem engaging said opening, and a resistance coil arranged in said tube and connected at its front end to said screw-stem, the other end of said coil being adapted to be connected to a source of direct current.

CHARLES A. LEE. 

